


The Dead Are Alive

by Tatsumaki_sama



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Death, Friendship, Gen, Grim Reapers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 15:24:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12135363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tatsumaki_sama/pseuds/Tatsumaki_sama
Summary: Washington at first appeared normal. Of course, as they learned, it is the monsters that look human are the ones they have watched out for.





	The Dead Are Alive

**Author's Note:**

> Not quite sure where this idea came from but I was suddenly driven to write about a non-human Washington. I also really liked the idea of Washington being a grim reaper because of how he survived all those near-death experiences, as well as being the one to recover the dead Freelancers' bodies, like a reaper. I tried to capture his personality as from his pre-Epsilon days with a dark side to it; hope it fits in with this new alternate universe.

If there was one word the Freelancers could use to describe their latest rookie, it would be that he was _strange_. And that was saying something, considering some of them didn't have all the bolts and screws tightened in their heads.

 

Washington was perpetually clumsy, seemingly always finding ways to trip and stumble and knock objects over. It was as if his feet was unsteady with the ground below him and his limbs did not follow his brain's commands. More than once, he nearly ran into doors and walls like he was unfamiliar with using them.

 

He was quick to stammer apologies for the littlest thing, believing he had them a great disservice. He consistently perked up with delight when someone spoke to him. He had a habit of clinging and attaching to people like York, North and Carolina who had shown him some form of kindness or friendliness. He was helplessly naive and gullible, falling for the simplest pranks and jokes, genuinely buying the most outrageous lies.

 

In terms of skill, Washington was nothing to write about. He was fairly average in hand-to-hand combat, was a decent shot with the battle rifle and quick on his feet. He was able to stay a constant on the leader-board.

 

On the surface, Washington was as normal as any one of them.

 

They were very, very wrong about that.

 

~.~.~

 

It had only taken a split second. York was down with a bullet to the shoulder. Washington was leaning over, pressing biofoam into the wound when there was a shuffle behind them and Washington turned around to meet an Insurrectionist stabbing him in the chest.

 

“ Wash!”

 

York's alarmed shout managed to rise above the sounds of fighting and clashes. North raised his head from his sniper perch. Maine paused, fists bruised and bloody. CT tried to run towards Washington but was pinned down. South turned her head around in the middle of her fistfight with two Insurrectionists and turned back to keep fighting with renewed fury.

 

Carolina managed to reach York first, arm poised to throw her own knife at the Insurrectionist's head when Washington's body sighed and shuddered and was enveloped in a blanket of smoke.

 

And they – the Freelancers, the Insurrectionists – all froze at what they saw next.

 

Washington was replaced with a dark shroud of a humanoid creature, wrapped and covered in shadows and mist. It grew to be impossibly large, easily hunched over to tower over everyone. Several arm-like tendrils curled, stretched and swept through the air, interlocking like a spiderweb. Its hands, if they could be called hands, were wisps of smoke and ash and gnarly bone.

 

And it reached up to grasp the knife from where its heart would have been.

 

“ That was not very nice.”

 

It sounded like Washington, had his light carefree intonation. But within the voice, they all heard something different. Carolina could hear the harshness of the Director and the gentle yet firm tone of her mother. North could hear South's fierce, sharp voice hissing at him to mind his own business. CT could hear the soft, loving whisper of her lover as he pleaded for her to leave Project Freelancer.

 

The creature took a hold of the knife and the Insurrectionist's hand that had been gripping the knife, cupping it rather gently in its grossly inhuman fingers.

 

The unholy shriek that left the Insurrectionist's mouth, as if being burned, made them watch in horror as the Insurrectionist wildly flailed and yanked his arm, trying to flee as the knife and his arm shrivelled and decomposed into rot, bone and decay.

 

It was only then that it let him go and he collapsed to the ground with a howl, clutching at where his arm used to be.

 

The Insurrectionists then chose to wisely retreat, leaving the Freelancers to deal with the monstrous being.

 

Still wondering if he was hallucinating from blood loss and pain, York managed to sit up. The others stood silently, perhaps still in shock and horror. “ Wash?” he said uncertainly.

 

It turned to look at him and York could hardly breath. There was no face except a devouring darkness that threatened to draw him in and never let go. It appeared to expire a long rattling sigh, a crackling sound that electrified the air, burning their eardrums.

 

Then, it gave itself a little shake, the smoke vanished and seeped back to the earth and bone became flesh and they were looking at Washington, their young inexperienced rookie again.

 

“ I can explain,” Washington said in a too calm voice.

 

~.~.~.

 

Carolina's hand twitched, wanting nothing more than to hold a gun. York restlessly rubbed his injured shoulder. Maine stood as a silent sentry by the door. North's mouth was set in a hard line. South had a matching expression like her brother but her eyes flashed dangerously. CT shifted from one foot to the next, unable to stop staring.

 

Only Washington appeared completely and utterly relaxed, even amused by the whole situation.

 

And it absolutely terrified them.

 

“ Who are you?” Carolina finally asked. She stopped. No, scratch that. “ _What_ are you?”

 

“ An interested party,” Washington absently hummed.

 

“ Cut the crap,” South snarled. Her hands balled into fists. “ Answer the damn question.”

 

For a moment, they thought he wouldn't give a honest answer. “ I am the last thing every living creature sees when they draw their last breath and their hearts slows to a stop,” he solemnly said. “ I take when the time is due and nothing more. And no matter how hard you try, I always find you in the end, whether you want it or not, whether you attempt to fight me to the bitter end or accept me as a friend.”

 

They couldn't stop listening to his slow, mesmerizing voice. They were rooted on the spot, whether in fear or in disbelief.

 

“ I was there when your mother fought on the battlefield,” Washington continued, eyes flickering towards Carolina. “ I was there when your father whispered he loved you both in the hospital.” His eyes turned to North and South. “ I was there when you made your first kill in that bar after that man mocked you.” He jerked his head towards Maine.

 

Washington leaned forward. His eyes appeared unnaturally bright in the dim room. The lights shuddered and the shadows only grew darker, larger.

 

“ So now do you know who I am?”

 

They did not need to say it. They all knew it. Washington – or who they now knew as the grim reaper, the harbinger of death, Death himself – had given them his answer on a silver platter.

 

A smile danced across his mouth but in doing so, they could see how it was abnormally stretched wide and rows of skeleton-like teeth gleamed out, crooked and ghostly. “ Glad we got that sorted out.”

 

The shadows retreated, Washington looked human once more and they could all breath again.

 

“ Why are you here?” York managed to find his voice. He still could not reconcile this Washington with the Washington who had pictures of kittens in his locker and naively believed York when he told him about the ship's invisible trolls that would steal his socks.

 

“ Apparently sometime in the future, due to the actions of Project Freelancer, I will meet my untimely end,” Washington flippantly shrugged.

 

That was something none of them had been expecting.

 

“ The details are a little unclear.” Washington waved a hand in the air, as if to brush aside their questioning looks. “ But Project Freelancer was the only thing that stood out so I decided to join to get to the bottom of it.”

 

“ So what, you are here to prevent your death?”

 

“ Of course not. I am here to see it play out.”

 

It was staggering and downright to hear Death of all people talking about _himself_ dying. Half of them thought they misheard him at first.

 

“ Why?” CT suspiciously asked.

 

“ Death is but the next great adventure,” Washington grinned, sounding positively delighted. No person should be so cheerful about discussing their up-and-coming death. “ Besides, I'm looking forward to it. Maybe there will be a party with cake and cookies and fireworks at the end of it. Or maybe the world will end with all the lights going out.”

 

None of them knew how to answer to that. “ Why are you telling us this?” North frowned. “ Why trust us with this information?”

 

“ Having some company makes things more fun,” Washington honestly said. For a moment, with the way he smiled so warmly at them, they could pretend it was just their old rookie sitting with them and not a monstrous force of nature.

 

There was a click of the safety flipping off and South pointed her gun at the middle of Washington's head, amidst the protests of her teammates.

 

“ How do you know any one of us won't pull the trigger on you right now?” she said, her voice low and harsh. “ One of us could be the cause of your death.”

 

Washington smiled like an overindulgent parent. “ Because I already know how things will end and I won't be dying _that_ soon.”

 

His answer was quick and casual, just enough for the implications of what he said to sink in and make their skin crawl.

 

“ You could try though,” he unnecessarily added. “ I enjoy a good surprise.”

 

“ South, put the gun down,” Carolina firmly cut in, stepping forward to stand between her and Washington. South reluctantly backed down. “ Is your presence here going to threaten my team?” she shot at Washington. But even as the words left her mouth, she wondered what could she, as a mere mortal, even do to tame and control Death.

 

He snorted. “ I doubt it. If anything, I'll be helping you guys out. It pays to have Death on speed dial.”

 

Carolina chose to ignore his last statement. “ Does the Director know?” she asked instead.

 

“ No. He won't know until I meet with him at his last breath.”

 

“ Then, what now?”

 

Everyone was startled by Maine's sudden question. They almost forgot he was standing there the entire time.

 

Maine narrowed his eyes at Washington who evenly met his gaze. “ I'll continue to be Agent Washington the rookie soldier,” Washington said serenely.

 

He smiled sweetly at them, like he had done so many times before, and they wondered how could they have been so easily deceived by that perfectly imperfect face.

 


End file.
